The Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit is a street circuit around Albert Park Lake, only a few kilometres south of central Melbourbe, with a length of 308 km, with 58 laps(each lap 5.3km). This GP has 16 curves, 6 highspeed straight lines(between: 16 and 1, 2 and 3, 5 and 6, 8 and 9, 10 and 11, 12 and 13), 2 slow turns(3 and 15), 3 ideal spots for overtaking(1, 3 and 15) and the top speed is arround 300km/h.
First race was held in 1996 woned by Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher has the lap record - 1:24.125.
Ferrari is dominating the Australian GP with 6 victories (1999-E.Irvine, 2000&2001&2002&2004-M.Schumacher, 2007-K.Raikkonen); next in line are Mclaren with 5 victories (1997&2003-D.Coulthard, 1998-M.Hakkinen, 2008-L.Hamilton, 2010-J.Button), Renault with 2 victories (2005-G.Fisichella, 2006-F.Alonso), Williams with 1 victory (1996-D.Hill) and Brawn GP with 1 victory (2009-J.Button).
When is not racing, in Melbourne the speed limit is generally 50 km/h which is slower than an F1 car under pit lane speed restrictions. Some short sections have a speed limit of 40 km/h. The back of the track, turns 7 to 13 inclusive, is known as Lakeside Drive. Double lines separate the two-way traffic along most of Lakeside Drive with short road islands approximately every 50 metres, which means overtaking is illegal here.
Last year pole - Sebastian Vettel 1:23.919: